Waste is usually discussed in design as a problem to be managed, hidden or efficiently processed. What makes The Paper Log: Shell and Core more interesting is that it does not begin with concealment. Instead, Issey Miyake and Ensamble Studio take a byproduct of the house’s pleating process and let it remain legible — not as embarrassment, but as origin, texture and memory. The project, presented at the ISSEY MIYAKE / MILAN store, transforms compressed rolls of pleating paper into sculptural objects and furniture prototypes that sit somewhere between research, design gesture and material philosophy.
At the centre of the installation is the Paper Log itself: a dense cylindrical roll of wafer-thin paper used during the making of Issey Miyake’s pleated garments, originally intended to protect fabric as it passes through the pleating machine. The house describes these rolls as byproducts of its signature technology, structurally reminiscent of tree trunks, with circular markings that evoke growth rings and the passage of time. It is a striking metaphor, but also a useful one. The material already carries the trace of process before anyone begins redesigning it.
The project was conceived by Satoshi Kondo of MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO and developed by the Issey Miyake project team in collaboration with Ensamble Studio, the Spanish architecture office known for its materially driven practice. According to the brand, Kondo first became interested in the rolls after seeing them at the manufacturer, cutting them crosswise to produce stools that were later used as seating and installation elements for the ISSEY MIYAKE Spring/Summer 2025 show in Paris. That earlier gesture becomes the seed for a larger inquiry here: what happens when an industrial leftover is treated not as residue, but as a raw material with its own design logic?
The answer unfolds through two linked approaches. Shell, developed by Ensamble Studio, uses peeled sheets from the Paper Log to form crisp sculptural objects, either shaped freely or wrapped around existing forms, then treated with hardening agents to preserve each pleat, wrinkle and crease. Core, produced by the in-house project team, turns the same source material into functional prototypes including a stool, chair and table, exploring treatments such as wax soaking, glue painting and bundling. The result is a dialogue between fragility and robustness, ephemerality and use.
That contrast is what gives the installation its charge. One side seems to freeze paper in a state of delicate suspension; the other insists that the same material can bear weight, occupy space and become domestic infrastructure. In both cases, the object keeps the memory of manufacture close to the surface. Even when repurposed, it does not pretend to be something wholly new. This is an inference from the project’s stated emphasis on preserving the visible pleats, wrinkles and cylindrical structure of the original paper rolls.
There is also something fitting about Ensamble Studio’s involvement. Issey Miyake describes the practice as one rooted in deep material research but guided by a methodology that is often minimal, even primitive, allowing the material itself to stay visible rather than overauthored. That sensibility aligns closely with the project’s larger appeal: not recycling as moral performance, but transformation through attention.
Presented during Milan Design Week 2026, the installation runs from April 21 to May 5, 2026, with a documentary also included to show the making process and the conversation between the studio and the Issey Miyake team. The context matters. In a week often crowded with polished surfaces and concept-heavy furniture launches, The Paper Log: Shell and Core offers something quieter and more precise: a meditation on how industry leaves traces, and how those traces might become form.
Photos: Issey Miyake